The Dragonborn Comes
by David-El
Summary: Jon Snow has returned from the Great Ranging and been arrested for treason. When he rejects Stannis' offer, Melisandre sees an opportunity and they sail to Dragonstone with Jon as their prisoner. Intent on waking dragons from stone, she burns Jon upon their arrival, never suspecting that she will seal her doom, and save Westeros at the same time.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Well, here I go again, with what is certainly my most canon-compliant story so far. Remember, I own NOTHING connected to _Game of Thrones_ or _A Song of Ice and Fire_. They belong to George RR Martin (the bloody sadist,) and HBO. The closest I come is a copy of _Game of Thrones_, one DVD copy of each season, and a copy of _Lands of Ice and Fire_.

**The Dragonborn Comes**

**Prologue: The Wall**

_The Wall, 299 AL-Jon_

"You've been charged with oathbreaking, cowardice and desertion, Snow. Do you deny that you abandoned your brothers to die on the Fist of the First Men and joined the wildling Mance Rayder, this self-styled King-beyond-the-Wall?" Janos Slynt demanded.

"_Abandoned?!_" Jon Snow cried out in rage. "I joined Qhorin Halfhand to scout the Skirling Pass where we fought a small band of the Free Folk and killed most of them. I was left behind to kill the last, but I couldn't-"

"There, you see! Blood always tells. Not only is he talking like one of them, but now he admits to refusing to kill one of the bastards!" Alliser Thorne insisted.

"We will let Jon Snow finish his testimony before casting judgement, Ser Alliser," Maester Aemon Targaryen stated. Fortunately for Jon, Bowen Marsh and Cotter Pyke agreed.

"Thank you, Maester Aemon. Now, as I was saying, I couldn't kill the girl, Ygritte by name. However, before I could even attempt to kill Ygritte, the Halfhand asked her straight out if he'd be taken prisoner if the Free Folk captured him. Even then he was planning on how to get one of us inside Mance Rayder's camp. Well, they left after that and I attempted to kill her, but I couldn't kill a woman in cold blood, I'm not a murderer, and Ygritte had never done anything to the North before. When I realized I couldn't kill her, I decided to bring her with us, but we couldn't catch up to the Halfhand. During that time, Ygritte kept pushing me to lie with her, but I refused. Eventually we were captured by the Free Folk, and taken to the leader of that particular band, a man called the Lord of Bones, or Rattleshirt. Rattleshirt had already captured the Halfhand. When I spoke to the Halfhand, he told me one brother inside Mance's army was worth a thousand fighting him."

"Don't talk about the Halfhand like you knew him!" Thorne interrupted. "He was my brother."

"Then you know he'd do anything to protect the Watch. Now, he immediately started insulting me in order to give the impression that he hated me so that the free folk could trust me. Eventually Qhorin managed to take a sword from one of the free folk and used it to attack me, and me alone. I defended myself to the point that eventually I had to kill him."

"So you admit to killing Qhorin Halfhand?" Pyke asked.

"Only in self-defence, and knowing that he wanted me inside Mance's army. Once inside Mance's army, I only told him lies about the Watch. For example, one of his commanders, one Tormund Giantsbane asked how many men were at Castle Black, and I told him a thousand were here."

"Look at that, he can't even stay loyal to the wildlings. What else could we expect from a traitor's bastard?" Slynt stated.

Jon huffed at that. "Like you would know anything about loyalty, Slynt. You betrayed the Baratheons by putting a mad Lannister bastard on the throne in exchange for a cursed castle." Jon continued to argue his case, but it quickly became clear that the only man on his side was Maester Aemon, and the only neutral party was Cotter Pyke. Seven hells, even the septon was against him! Eventually he proclaimed "We can debate over what rules I broke and my punishment until the Wall melts, but the fact remains that Mance Rayder is coming south with an army of 100,000 wildlings in addition to several dozen giants."

"Impossible. You can't get 50 wildlings together before they start killing each other," Thorne insisted.

"100,000. Mance went to every single clan and told them that they were all going to die unless they came south of the Wall. There's already at least one band of wildlings on this side of the Wall. They're led by Tormund, I killed their warg and three others, and Ygritte shot me full of arrows. The plan is for them to attack from the south while Mance hits us from the north. The signal for the attack will be a bonfire, one that Mance said would be the biggest fire the North has ever seen. That's the truth, the whole truth and nothing but. Now, are you going to hang me, or can I return to my quarters?"

"For the moment, you will be confined to quarters. Personally," and here Pyke turned to glare at Slynt and Thorne, "I don't see why we even started this without Mallister. And until he arrives, I see no reason to continue this farce of a trial."

Two weeks passed before Jon heard anything at all, let alone a single piece of news about the world south of the Wall. Fortunately, his old friend Samwell Tarly arrived with news. Stannis Baratheon, brother to the late King Robert and self-proclaimed King in the Narrow Sea had arrived from his seat on Dragonstone and attacked the Free Folk's army while men from the Shadow Tower attacked from the west. A number had been killed, but there were still more than 90,000 wildlings just north of the Wall. Stannis was now negotiating with Mance while the members of the Watch voted for a new Lord Commander, with the vote leaning towards Mallister.

The next day, Stannis took a break from negotiations with Mance to speak to him, bringing his red priestess with him. After a very interesting conversation, Stannis decided "You are bold enough to be a Stark, that's good. I would like to offer you a deal, Lord Snow."

"What kind of deal?"

"A king can remove the taint of bastardy with the stroke of a pen. I will legitimize you and make you Lord of Winterfell, and in exchange, you will drive the remaining ironmen from the North and fight with me."

"But I'm still a brother of the Night's Watch. I knelt before a heart tree and swore to hold no lands and father no children."

The red woman gave a small chuckle at that. "R'hllor is the only true god. A vow sworn to a tree has no more power than a vow sworn to your shoes. Open your heart and let the light of the Lord come in. Burn these weirwoods and accept Winterfell as a gift of the Lord of Light."

Jon raised his eyebrow at that, but decided not to push it right now. "Fight who, Lord Stannis?"

"First, the ironborn, then the Others, after that, you will help me claim my throne."

"You want me to fight Robb?! I have already broken my vows with the Watch, but I will _never_ fight my brother. That would be the worst treason in the history of the Starks, and you're as mad as Aerys to think I'd do it!" Jon proclaimed with a fire he never knew he had. Then he turned on the red woman. "As for burning the weirwoods, forget it! The godswood has always and will always be the heart of Winterfell, and I will never do it. Find yourself another turncloak, because while I may betray the Watch, I will _never_ betray my family."

"Then you will serve the Lord's chosen in another way, Jon Snow," the priestess stated.

"How?" Stannis asked.

"Because he is condemned to die, and like it or not, he is a king's blood. We can use that to finally wake the dragons from stone, and you won't even have to deal with the Onion Knight's arguments as he is going to die anyway."

Stannis thought about that for a moment before deciding. "You are right, Melisandre. We shall leave for Eastwatch with all haste, then return to Dragonstone. Tell the men that they are to follow the orders of the commanders of the Watch. Snow, you are coming with us, we have a long way to go."

Our hero, our hero claims a warrior's heart

I tell you, I tell you the Dragonborn comes

With a voice wielding power of the ancient Nord art

Believe, believe the Dragonborn comes

It's an end to the evil of all Skyrim's foes

Beware, beware the Dragonborn comes

For the darkness has passed and the legend yet grows

You'll know, you'll know the Dragonborn comes

Dragonborn, Dragonborn!

By his honor is sworn to keep evil forever at bay

And the fiercest foes rout when they hear triumph's shout

Dragonborn, for your blessing we pray


	2. Braavos

**A/N:** Okay, two quick things. First, I have messed with the timeline a little for this story. In this, Jon, Stannis and Dany have all moved faster than they did in canon. Second, my idea of Braavos is that it is their version of New York City, a melting pot of people, languages and cultures. What else could you expect from a great trading city? As for my one reviewer, no, I know almost nothing about Skyrim, although the inspiration for the title _did_ come from it.

**The Dragonborn Comes**

**Chapter One: Braavos**

_Black Betha, 100 Miles East of Widow's Watch, 299 AL-Davos_

One month. A whole bloomin' month they'd been here and Stannis was already preparing to leave, though Davos knew there was no way he could have done what he set out to do. For all his talk about a 'great battle in the snow,' Davos had heard nothing of it, yet here they were, on their way back to Dragonstone with a passenger that Stannis would say nothing about. The one time Davos had asked about the lad (who was about the age that Matthos was when he died,) Stannis refused to say his name, only stating that he was "the bastard son of a dead man." Really, what was the point of naming him Hand of the King when Stannis wouldn't even tell him what the plan was?

Not that he couldn't guess the plan, not with the Red Woman coming along. He had saved Edric and Gendry both only for her to find another victim, one that he couldn't do a thing to save. But he still wanted to get to know the boy, so he walked to the boy's cabin. "We're about a day out from Eastwatch now, and we should be at Dragonstone in about six weeks." The lad simply nodded, though he did stare at the sigil on his doublet for a good time. "Why are you staring at my sigil?"

"I'm trying to remember who you are, my lord. There aren't many houses with ships for their sigil, but I certainly don't remember one with a white circle on the sail."

Davos had to laugh at that. "Not many people have mistaken my onion for a simple circle before! I'm not sure if I should thank you or resent you for that."

"Onion, you said? Then you must be the famous Onion Knight, Ser Davos Seaworth, the smuggler that saved Storm's End from starvation," the boy said.

"Aye, and who are you?"

"Jon Snow, bastard son of the late Lord Eddard Stark." Ah, so that's what Stannis meant. Even he knew of the Stark bastard, and that he had been convicted as a traitor to the Watch, which meant he was going to die anyway. Damn that Red Woman! "You're close to Lord Stannis, are you not? Maybe you could tell me what you know of the war since my brother, Robb was crowned."

"Aye, I could, but I thought you had been at the Wall at the time? How did you know he'd been crowned?"

Snow laughed at that. "Just because most of the Watch is made up of criminals doesn't mean that there aren't some of us who stay in contact with our families. For the Starks, serving in the Watch is a great honour and I received letters from both my father and Robb while there. Come to think of it, I think I was the only one to receive letters, other than the Old Bear. Anyways, we left on a ranging right after I learned that Robb had been crowned, and when I returned, they wouldn't let me read any of his letters. So, what happened after that?"

"Well, let's see. Renly Baratheon was crowned king in the Reach, and many of the Stormlords swore allegiance to him, as did the Tyrells, but he was killed by one of the Red Woman's spells. The Stormlords joined with Stannis, and we attacked King's Landing, but the Imp stopped us."

"How?" Snow asked.

"Wildfire. The Imp had the alchemists make gallons of the stuff and filled a ship with it. Then he launched the ship towards us, with the wildfire leaking out and an archer set it on fire. The fleet was decimated and three of my sons died as a result. Stannis still attempted to take the city, but the dwarf held long enough for Tywin to arrive with his men and the men of the Reach, who had defected to the Lannisters after Renly's death."

Davos was shocked when Snow had the audacity to _laugh_ at that. "Well done, Tyrion! I knew that he was smart, but I didn't know he was a bloody _genius_!"

"You know the Imp?"

"We met at Winterfell when Robert came to ask my father to be his Hand, then travelled north to the Wall together. Over those few weeks, he helped me out and we became good friends."

Davos couldn't completely trust the bastard after hearing that, but he couldn't stop giving him the news now. Not without telling him about his brother. "Now, as for Robb, after he was crowned, he attempted to make an alliance with Renly, but before it could be finalized, Renly was killed. In fact, some of the rumours suggested that it was Lady Stark that had killed Renly. Robb also attempted an alliance with Balon Greyjoy, and sent the man's son as an envoy."

"WHAT?! He didn't!" Davos could only confirm the tale with a nod of his head. "Robb, how could you have been so naïve? I can guess what happened after that: Balon decided not to ally with Robb but to attack the North, am I right?"

"Aye. That girl of his took Deepwood Motte, one of the other squids took Moat Cailin, and the boy attacked Torrhen's Square before taking Winterfell with only ten men."

"Ten men?! That traitorous bastard Theon took Winterfell with only ten men?" Snow asked incredulously. Then insight came to him. "Of course, the attack on Torrhen's Square was a diversion. He knew if Torrhen's Square was attacked, then Winterfell would send their soldiers to defend it. And using his knowledge of Winterfell, he could easily get ten men inside the walls to take and hold it. Damn him!"

Davos decided the quickest way to calm him down would be some good news, so he pressed on. "Your brother has also defeated several Lannister armies and taken several of their castles. And he was recently married."

Snow raised his eyebrow at that. "Oh? So which Frey did he choose as a bride?"

Now it was Davos' turn to look incredulous. "A Frey? Why would the Lord of Winterfell and King of the North marry a Frey?"

"Because of a deal he made, didn't you know?" Davos had to shake his head, so Snow decided to explain. "Okay, it was in the early days of the war. Our father had been held in the black cells for about a month, the Kingslayer was laying siege to Riverrun after smashing the Tully forces at the Golden Tooth, and Robb had just crossed the Neck. He needed to decide which Lannister army to attack, and no matter which one he went with, he needed the support of the Freys if he was to win. So, in return for their support, Robb promised to foster two Freys at Winterfell, take a Frey as a squire, and to marry a Frey girl. Old Walder tried to get a betrothal for my youngest sister, Arya as well, but Robb refused."

"Well, that would explain why most of the Freys left his army then. He's married a foreign girl from Essos. I think her name is Talisa Maegyr of Volantis."

"Maegyr? Well damnation. At least that was a _good_ mistake. And what's the latest on Daenarys Targaryen?"

"We don't hear much of her, but I think she was in Qarth last we did hear, and there's a rumour that she has dragons."

"Dragons? Well, _that_ will be a game changer," Snow said before changing the subject. The two men continued to talk for several hours before Davos headed back to have dinner with Stannis and Melisandre.

_Braavos, Essos-299 AL-Jon_

The day after his talk with Davos, the ship was hit by a terrible storm that lasted for two weeks. Jon was released from his cabin in order to help the crew, but the ship took enough damage that it was forced to dock at the nearest port: the Free City of Braavos. Oddly enough, though he had been a virtual prisoner on the ship, in Braavos, Jon was basically a free man-even to the point of being allowed to carry a sword. The only explanation he could come up with was that Stannis had come to believe him to be much like his father-a man of his word, bound by his honour.

Within his first hour of wandering the city, Jon was more fascinated by Braavos then Sansa could have ever been by King's Landing, and by the end of the day, he knew there could never be another city like it in all the world. The people seemed to come in every shape, size and colour! Westeros saw the occasional Summer Islander, but it was nothing compared to this! Not only did he see the white skin of the Andals, First Men and Valyrians, but the darker skin of the Rhoynar, the olive skin of the infamous Dothraki, the black skin of the Summer Islanders, the yellow skin of those living along the coast of the Jade Sea, and every other shade of skin he could think of! And to add to the variety of the melting pot of people, Jon was convinced he heard more languages in Braavos than he had heard of. Dothraki, every variant of Valyrian, the Common Tongue, the Traders Tongue, Ghiscari and languages he had no name for.

And to add to the colour of the city were the bravos that seemed to be everywhere he went. The bravos were pairs of young, brash swordsmen that travelled at night that seemed to challenge anyone with a sword to duels-rarely lethal though. Jon had discovered them his first night in Braavos and had to duel at least a dozen of the bravos before returning to the Inn of the Green Eel. After a few days though, Jon had started deliberately staying out at night in order to duel the bravos, often using his left hand in order to keep in practice with that hand, besides, it was fun.

Another advantage to travelling at night was that after a duel, the bravos would often share drinks and tell him some of the most fantastic tales he'd ever heard-many of them featuring Daenarys Targaryen. By the time he had finished exploring the first island of Braavos, Jon was certain he had figured out the entire tale-without exaggerations. Daenarys Stormborn had basically been sold to some Dothraki horselord, by her own brother no less in exchange for an army to regain the Targaryen crown! What Viserys was thinking when he did that, Jon could never guess. He should have known that condoning slavery would _never_ be welcome in Westeros, especially with Ser Jorah Mormont as an advisor. In any case, though the marriage started off rocky, they had eventually fallen in love and Khal Drogo moved to prepare for an invasion of Westeros after some wine merchant attempted to kill her for Robert Baratheon. During those preparations though, Drogo had died due to a maegi's curse, and in vengeance, Daenarys had burned the witch alive and bound to Drogo's funeral pyre. Dany herself had walked into the pyre and come out the next morning with two more titles: the Unburnt and Mother of Dragons-the dragons having been hatched from three believed to be petrified eggs given to her as a wedding present. From the pyre, she and the remnants of Drogo's horde had moved south to the mysterious city of Qarth and attempted to gain support to return to Westeros. She failed and made enemies out of the Warlocks of Qarth after destroying the House of the Undying. After leaving Qarth, she moved on to Astapor, where she took an army of Unsullied and slaughtered the slave masters in the city. Dany then moved on to Yunkai and Meereen, where she again slaughtered the slave masters before freeing the slaves, earning herself two more titles: Breaker of Chains and Mhysa-an old Ghis word for Mother. Dany had also gained the allegiance of the mercenary group called the Second Sons at Yunkai and the famous Ser Barristan Selmy in Astapor and was currently ruling in Meereen. Viserys on the other hand had died before Drogo did, and had apparently been killed _by_ Drogo, and many of the tales said that Drogo had killed him by pouring molten gold on his head-fulfilling the promise to give him a crown.

By comparison, gossip, let alone trustworthy news from Westeros was rare. Few in Braavos even knew who Robert Baratheon or Eddard Stark were, let alone that they had both died the previous year. They knew about the Battle of the Blackwater, but only because some famous pirate from the Summer Islands had been a part of it, supporting Stannis in exchange for a chance to have Cersei. Yet quite by accident, Jon would discover the one Braavosi who not only knew who Eddard Stark was, but had also known him, and one of his daughters.

It was a fine evening, and Jon had just dispatched one of the few things in Braavos that made him decide to _never_ live in the city, no matter what: a Faceless Man, though one in training. It took him a while to recognize them, but fortunately if one studied the people long enough, they could be found easily enough, after all, one can't change the shape of their bones. Fortunately they were more trained in assassinations than they were in actual fighting, which made dispatching them easy. After that, he had a nice, diverting fight with a pair of bravos and was about to start heading back when he spotted something he had never seen before: a bravos on his own, and one that was at least two decades older than any other he had seen. "You fought them with you left hand, yet you are right-handed. Why is this, I am wondering?"

"And you are on your own, why is that?" Jon countered. "No other bravos goes around on his own, no matter how good he thinks he is."

"_They_ are not the First Sword to the Sealord of Braavos, boy."

Jon raised an eyebrow at the Braavosi. "How long have you been the First Sword?"

"I will tell you if you answer my question."

Jon grinned at the man. "Very well, I will. About four months ago my commander was attacked by a living corpse, and in order to destroy it, I threw a lantern on it and burned my hand. As a result, I needed to learn how to do everything, including how to fight with my left hand. When my right hand recovered, I kept practicing with my left to give myself more of a challenge. Now, I can fight as well with my left hand as my right. Now, how long have you been the First Sword?"

"Ten years I have been the First Sword, why do you ask?"

"So that I would know that I have the honour of speaking to Syrio Forel, the man who taught my little sister to fight. She spoke very highly of you," Jon told Syrio.

Syrio's eyes widened in understanding. "Ah, so you are the brother that gave Arya her Needle. She was a very promising student, a pity our lessons were cut short by the Lannisters. Would you be interested in your own lessons with me? I am wondering."

"I don't think I'm suited to learn water dancing, Syrio."

"Ah, but I was not speaking of the water dancing, Jon Snow. I am speaking of the Jar'Kai, a rare and hard-to-learn type of dancing. You are the first person I have met who could learn it, for the Jar'Kai requires two swords, one in each hand. Are you interested, Jon Snow?" Jon only grinned in response.

So for the rest of their time in Braavos, Jon spent every available moment at Nabbo's Bridge training with Syrio in the art of Jar'Kai or practising it against the numerous bravos. Finally, after two weeks of training and a total of eight weeks in Braavos, the _Black Bertha_ was repaired, and they set off for Dragonstone. This time, their voyage couldn't have passed more peacefully, despite having to avoid the Lannister ships.


End file.
